Prepping for the lunch time rush is a welcome distraction for Max Birindwa* a restaurant manager at one of Pretoria’s favourite eateries. He is one of several refugees employed at the popular chain store in an equally well-liked shopping mall in South Africa’s capital. Many South Africans would assume that he is one of the thousands of foreign nationals employed in the hospitality, construction and mining sectors, which have been accused of widespread non-compliance with legislation stipulating that at least 60% of their staff comprise South African citizens. This has given rise to serious concern from individuals, communities and Government, particularly the Department of Home Affairs, which is to embark on a ‘mass inspection’ of businesses countrywide to ensure they complied.”

Proposed changes to South Africa’s refugee policy — including setting up refugee “camps” close to the border — may aggravate xenophobia towards asylum seekers rather than provide relief, refugee policy experts warned yesterday ahead of a crucial debate in parliament.

Part of the allegations levied against the Home Affairs during what many believed to be the attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa recently was that asylums were given to criminals from countries like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia etc and that they should stop granting them asylum. Looking vividly at the issue, I couldn’t help it but to say the agitation was right in my mind.

South Africa, long a haven for migrants from across Africa, is trying to update its immigration policy with a number of changes, which one official says aims to strike a balance between being welcoming of immigrants and keeping the nation safe.

In 2010 police in Johannesburg shot Justin Ejimkonye, a Nigerian migrant, in the leg. The reason why is unclear: It took the police 18 months to charge Ejimkonye with any crime. When they did bring a charge, saying he was carrying cannabis, a public prosecutor decided not to pursue the case for lack of evidence. The Nigerian says police shot him because he refused to pay them bribes. Similar claims of police corruption are echoed by hundreds of immigrants in South Africa. Some are resigned to paying out so they can stay in the country.

REGIONAL

GABORONE, Botswana – FIFTEEN refugees from Zimbabwe and Namibia have applied for voluntary repatriation from Botswana, amid fleeing from their countries for fear of persecution. Shaw Kgathi, the Defence, Justice and Security Minister has applauded the voluntary decision, citing that it resonates with the country’s continued strive to facilitate the return of refugees to their respective countries. “We believe, this is the most durable solution,” said Kgathi, adding that repatriation is facilitated in collaboration with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Nairobi – East Africa’s regional bloc said on Saturday it gradually will allow the hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees sheltering in its countries to work and will include them in planning efforts. It is a step forward for nations like Kenya, which hosts the world’s largest refugee camp and where refugees are not allowed to work, but it’s not enough, said an Amnesty International expert on refugees, Victor Nyamori.

WHAT THEY SAID: Worldwide, the combination of fast capitalism and the saturation of the everyday by digital and computational technologies have led to the acceleration of speed and the intensification of connections. Ours is, in this regard, an era of planetary entanglement. Yet, wherever we look, the drive is decisively towards enclosure. If this trend persists, tomorrow’s world will increasingly be a gated world, with myriad enclaves, culs-de-sac and shifting, mobile and diffuse borders.

Peter Namwewe – an asylum seeker from Malawi – has had pain throughout his body for almost 10 years. Thinking it was caused by a traffic collision, he went from hospital to hospital, but only recently received a diagnosis: muscular dystrophy, a degenerative, hereditary disease. But the doctors said they can’t help him unless he renews his asylum seeker permit, which expired in 2014. Namwewe can’t renew it because he first applied in Johannesburg.

BusinessInsider.com, 3 March 2017 A ban on Eritrean refugees working in Ethiopia is hampering efforts to reduce illegal “secondary” migration, with tens of thousands risking violence and drowning in pursuit of a better life, the Overseas Development Institute said on Thursday. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) declared that at least 60,000 South Sudanese entered Sudan since January, far exceeding earlier projections and creating the world`s fastest growing refugee crisis. Sudan currently hosts more than 365,000 South Sudanese refugees. More than 80 percent of the latest arrivals were women and children. Those who survive the journey arrive exhausted, malnourished, and ill. In other news reported last week by UNHRC, 172,000 South Sudanese refugees have fled to Uganda since January. Uganda is expected to host more than one million South Sudan refugees before June. The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, and Kenya are also hosting South Sudanese refugees. The majority of South Sudanese refugees go to Uganda, averaging more than 2,800 people per day.

INTERNATIONAL

Regardless of international concerns, Eritrea continues to pursue a policy of indefinite military conscription that compels the young and the old to serve their country while paying them a pittance. Eritreans are continuing to leave in large numbers to find work to support their families and to find a greater degree of freedom than is possible at home.

In the Mexican border town of Tapachula, near the Guatemalan border, a 27-year-old Somali man made inquiries at a grotty inn called the Imperial Hotel. He had arrived in Mexico a day earlier. Nadir C. fled Somalia several years ago after falling in love with a woman from a rival tribe. Pursued by her family, he escaped to Kenya, before traveling on to Uganda and South Sudan.